Business · Companies · 3 hrs ago
SpiralAI cuts the workweek to four days without reducing pay
Tokyo-based AI startup SpiralAI moved to a four-day workweek in June 2026, adding Friday off to its existing weekends and public holidays.
About 20 full-time employees kept the same pay, while their scheduled weekly hours fell by about 20%.
The company develops AI services using a large language model and its own AI engine, Geppetto.
CEO Yuichi Sasaki said he introduced the shorter week to push staff to use AI more and improve efficiency.
Employees initially worried they could not maintain the same results in less time, especially because deadlines and quality standards for client work would not change.
The company had already been using generative AI for tasks such as coding, but Sasaki wanted to accelerate changes to how people work.
The story gives no results from the first four months of the new schedule.
SpiralAI moved to a four-day workweek in June 2026 without reducing employees’ pay.
The change added Friday to the company’s existing weekends and public holidays, while keeping daily working hours unchanged.
The company aimed to cut weekly scheduled working hours by about 20% while maintaining productivity and results.
CEO Yuichi Sasaki said the policy was intended to push staff to use AI and improve work efficiency.
Employees initially expressed concern about meeting deadlines and maintaining quality with less working time.
- Who
- SpiralAI, a generative AI startup in Tokyo.
- What
- It moved to a four-day workweek without reducing pay. The policy covers about 20 full-time employees.
- When
- June 2026.
- Where
- SpiralAI, in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan.
- Why
- CEO Yuichi Sasaki wanted to speed up AI use and efficiency by requiring staff to compensate for a roughly 20% reduction in scheduled working hours.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
SpiralAI was founded.
The company added Friday to its days off without reducing pay.
ITmedia reported on the policy and employees’ initial concerns.
- Policy start
- June 2026
- Workweek
- Four days, with Friday added to weekends and public holidays
- Pay
- Unchanged
- Employees covered
- About 20 full-time staff
- Scheduled hours
- About 20% fewer hours per week
- Company location
- Chiyoda, Tokyo
What people are saying
I thought everyone would be happy, but not a single person said, “Great.
It was not enough to say it would be good to use AI; we wanted to create a situation where people had to use it.